The present invention relates to a coin wrapping machine and, particularly, to such a machine which can accurately detect whether the number of coins to be wrapped is more than or less than a predetermined number even in the case where new issue coins and past issue circulating coins of the same denomination are wrapped together.
Coin wrapping machines are generally constituted so as to discriminate the genuineness and denominations of deposited coins, count the number of coins of the denomination to be wrapped, feed every predetermined number of coins to a coin stacking section, roll-like stack coins, further feed the roll-like stacked coins to a coin wrapping section, hold the stacked coins by three wrapping rollers, rotate the stacked coins held by the wrapping rollers while being supported by a support rod, wind a wrapping film around the stacked coins so that there remain crimping portions above and below the stacked coins, crimp the crimping portions of the wrapping film above and below the stacked coins by moving a pair of an upper crimp claw and a lower crimp claw disposed spaced apart vertically toward each other, and produce a wrapped coin roll.
Therefore, a predetermined number of stacked coins should always be fed from the coin stacking section to the coin wrapping section. However, the number of the stacked coin fed to the coin wrapping section may sometimes be less than the predetermined number, since some of the stacked coins may sometime drop out when the stacked coins are fed from the coin stacking section to the coin wrapping section, or the number of stacked coins fed to the coin wrapping section may sometimes be more than the predetermined number, since for some reason, some of the coins stacked in the coin stacking section remain in the coin stacking section without feeding to the coin wrapping section, so that the remaining coin or coins are fed to the coin wrapping section together with the coins stacked in the coin stacking section in the next coin wrapping operation cycle.
In such cases, the number of coins becomes more than or less than the predetermined number despite the fact that predetermined number of coins have to be wrapped. Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-64335 therefore discloses a coin wrapping machine constituted to calculate the height of the stacked coins based on the amounts of movement of the pair of upper and lower crimp claws when they are moved toward each other in order to crimp the upper and lower end portions of a wrapping film wound around the coins roll-like stacked and transferred to the coin wrapping section and to compare the calculated height with a reference height of stacked coins of the denomination concerned, thereby detecting whether the number of coins to be wrapped is more than or less than the predetermined number.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 10-24909 discloses a coin wrapping machine provided with a sensor for detecting coins stacked in the coin stacking section and transferred to the coin wrapping section and constituted to calculate the height of the stacked coins based on the time during which the stacked coins are detected by the sensor and the moving speed of the stacked coins and compare the calculated height with a reference height of stacked coins of the denomination concerned, thereby detecting whether the number of coins to be wrapped is more than or less than the predetermined number.
These coin wrapping machines assume that the height of a predetermined number of stacked coins is constant for each denomination and, so long as this assumption is true, can detect whether the number of coins to be wrapped is more than or less than the predetermined number in a desired manner by calculating the height of the stacked coins and comparing it with a reference height of stacked coins of the denomination.
On the other hand, recently, coins of the same denomination as that of past issue circulating coins but having different magnetic properties, surface pattern or the like from that of the past issue circulating coins have been newly issued for the purpose of preventing counterfeiting and the like of coins. In such a case, the diameter and thickness of the new issue coin are normally determined to be equal to those of the past issue circulating coin but the new issue coin often has a different surface pattern from that of the past issue circulating coin. As a result, when a predetermined number of the new issue coins are stacked, the height thereof is often different from the height of the predetermined number of the stacked past issue circulating coins and, therefore, it is impossible for a coin wrapping machine provided with a conventional coin number discrepancy detecting device to accurately detect whether the number of the stacked coins is more than or less than the predetermined number.
For instance, 500 yen coins have been newly issued in Japan in order to prevent coin counterfeiting. When fifty past issue circulating 500 yen coins are stacked, the height thereof is 92.9 mm, whereas when fifty new issue 500 yen coins are stacked, the height thereof is 91.8 mm. Therefore, they are slightly different and it is impossible for a coin wrapping machine provided with a conventional coin number discrepancy detecting device to accurately detect whether the number of the stacked coins is more than or less than the predetermined number.
In addition, although past issue coins are gradually collected and taken out of circulation, new issue coins and past issue circulating coins are used as genuine coins until all past issue circulating coins have been collected. Therefore, since coins to be wrapped include both new issue coins and past issue circulating coins, it is impossible to determine the height of a predetermined number of stacked new issue coins as a reference height of stacked coins and detect whether the number of the stacked coins is more than or less than the predetermined number.
It is therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a coin wrapping machine which can accurately detect whether the number of coins to be wrapped is more than or less than a predetermined number even in the case where new issue coins and past issue circulating coins of the same denomination are wrapped together.
The above and other objects of the present invention can be accomplished by a coin wrapping machine comprising a denomination specifying means for specifying a denomination of coins to be wrapped, a discriminating and counting means for discriminating whether or not a coin is acceptable, a denomination of the coin when the coin is acceptable and whether or not the denomination of the coin coincides with that specified by the denomination specifying means and counting coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means, a coin stacking means for stacking coins of the denomination to be wrapped, a reference stacked coin height data storing means for storing reference stacked coin height data for each denomination of coins stacked by the coin stacking means, and a coin number discrepancy detecting means including a comparing means for comparing a height of stacked coins and the reference stacked coin height data for each denomination stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means, the discriminating and counting means being made responsive to inclusion in coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means of new issue coins and past issue circulating coins for discriminating whether each coin is a new issue coin or a past issue circulating coin, and the coin number discrepancy detecting device being made responsive to inclusion in the coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means of new issue coins and past issue circulating coins for causing the comparing means thereof to select the reference stacked coin height to be compared with the height of coins stacked by the coin stacking means in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on a count made by the discriminating and counting means.
According to the present invention, in the case where coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means include new issue coins and past issue circulating coins, since the reference stacked coin height to be compared with the height of coins stacked by the coin stacking means is selected by the comparing means of the coin number discrepancy detecting device in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on a count made by the discriminating and counting means, even when the height of a predetermined number of stacked new issue coins is different from the height of the same number of stacked past issue circulating coins, it is possible to reliably wrap the new issue coins and the past issue circulated old coins so as to include the predetermined number of coins.
In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the coin wrapping machine further includes a reference stacked coin height data producing means for producing the reference stacked coin height data in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means.
According to this preferred aspect of the present invention, since the coin wrapping machine further includes a reference stacked coin height data producing means for producing the reference stacked coin height data in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins, it is possible to accurately produce the reference stacked coin height data to be compared and accurately detect whether the number of coins is more than or less than a predetermined number by comparing them with the height of the coins stacked by the coin stacking means.
In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the reference stacked coin height data storing means is constituted to store reference stacked coin height data of stacked coins formed by stacking (Nxe2x88x92i) new issue coins and i past issue circulating old coins for each case of i=0 to N and the coin wrapping machine further includes a reference stacked coin height data selecting means for selecting, when coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means include new issue coins and past issue circulating coins, reference stacked coin height data from among the reference stacked coin height data stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means and outputting the thus selected reference stacked coin height data to the comparing means.
According to this preferred aspect of the present invention, since the reference stacked coin height data storing means stores reference stacked coin height data of stacked coins formed by stacking (Nxe2x88x92i) new issue coins and i past issue circulating old coins for each case of i=0 to N and the coin wrapping machine further includes a reference stacked coin height data selecting means for, when coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means include new issue coins and past issue circulating coins, selecting reference stacked coin height data from among the reference stacked coin height data stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, and outputting the thus selected reference stacked coin height data to the comparing means, it is possible to accurately select the corresponding reference stacked coin height data, compare them with the height of the coins stacked by the coin stacking means and accurately detect whether the number of coins is more than or less than a predetermined number.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins and to be stacked by the coin stacking means are classified into a plurality of groups of a number less than the number of coins to be wrapped in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins, the reference stacked coin height data storing means is constituted to store reference stacked coin height data for each of the plurality of groups, and the reference stacked coin height data selecting means is constituted to classify the coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins and to be stacked by the coin stacking means into a plurality of groups of a number less than the number of coins to be wrapped in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, select the reference stacked coin height data corresponding to each classified group and stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means and output them to the comparing means.
According to this preferred aspect of the present invention, since coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins and to be stacked by the coin stacking means are classified into a plurality of groups of a number less than the number of coins to be wrapped in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins, the reference stacked coin height data storing means is constituted to store reference stacked coin height data for each of the plurality of groups, and the reference stacked coin height data selecting means is constituted to classify the coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins and to be stacked by the coin stacking means into a plurality of groups of a number less than the number of coins to be wrapped in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, select the reference stacked coin height data corresponding to each classified group and stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means and output them to the comparing means, even when the height of a predetermined number of stacked new issue coins is different from the height of the same number of stacked past issue circulating coins, it is possible to reliably wrap the new issue coins and the past issue circulated old coins so as to include the predetermined number of coins without need for great memory capacity and in a short calculating time.
In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the coin wrapping machine further includes a reference stacked coin height data correcting means for correcting, when coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means include new issue coins and past issue circulating coins, the reference stacked coin height data stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, and outputting the thus corrected reference stacked coin height data to the comparing means.
According to this preferred aspect of the present invention, since the reference stacked coin height data stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means are corrected by the reference stacked coin height data correcting means in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, and the thus corrected reference stacked coin height data are output to the comparing means, even when the height of a predetermined number of stacked new issue coins is different from the height of the same number of stacked past issue circulating coins, it is possible to reliably wrap the new issue coins and the past issue circulated old coins so as to include the predetermined number of coins without need for great memory capacity.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the reference stacked coin height data correcting means is constituted to classify coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins and stacked by the coin stacking means into a plurality of groups of a number less than the number of coins to be wrapped in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, correct the reference stacked coin height data stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means in accordance with a correction value assigned to each of the groups, and output the thus corrected reference stacked coin height data to the comparing means.
According to this preferred aspect of the present invention, since the reference stacked coin height data correcting means is constituted to classify coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins and stacked by the coin stacking means into a plurality of groups of a number less than the number of coins to be wrapped in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, correct the reference stacked coin height data stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means in accordance with a correction value assigned to each of the groups, and output the thus corrected reference stacked coin height data to the comparing means, even when the height of a predetermined number of stacked new issue coins is different from the height of the same number of stacked past issue circulating coins, it is possible to reliably wrap the new issue coins and the past issue circulated old coins so as to include the predetermined number of coins without need for great memory capacity and in a a short calculating time.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the reference stacked coin height data storing means is constituted to store stacked coin height data produced by stacking the wrapped number of the past issue circulating coins as reference stacked coin height data of coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins.
In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the reference stacked coin height data storing means is constituted to store stacked coin height data produced by stacking the wrapped number of the new issue coins as reference stacked coin height data of coins of denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins.
In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the reference stacked coin height data storing means is constituted to store an average value of stacked coin height data produced by stacking the wrapped number of the new issue coins and stacked coin height data produced by stacking the wrapped number of the past issue circulating coins as reference stacked coin height data of coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins.
The above and other objects of the present invention can be also accomplished by a coin wrapping machine comprising a denomination specifying means for specifying a denomination of coins to be wrapped, a discriminating and counting means for discriminating whether or not a coin is acceptable, a denomination of the coin when the coin is acceptable and whether or not the denomination of the coin coincides with that specified by the denomination specifying means and counting coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means, a coin stacking means for stacking coins of the denomination to be wrapped, a reference stacked coin height data storing means for storing reference stacked coin height data for each denomination of coins stacked by the coin stacking means, a detected stacked coin height data storing means for storing a height of coins stacked by the coin stacking means, a detected stacked coin height data correcting means for correcting the detected stacked coin height data stored in the detected stacked coin height data storing means, and a coin number discrepancy detecting device including a comparing means for comparing the height of coins stacked by the coin stacking means and stored in the detected stacked coin height data storing means and the reference stacked coin height data for each denomination stored in the reference stacked coin height data storing means, the discriminating and counting means being made responsive to inclusion in coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means of new issue coins and past issue circulating coins for discriminating whether the coin is a new issue coin or a past issue circulating coin and the detected stacked coin height data correcting means being made responsive to inclusion in the coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means for correcting the detected stacked coin height data stored in the detected stacked coin height data storing means in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on a count made by the discriminating and counting means, and outputting the thus corrected detected stacked coin height data to the comparing means.
According to the present invention, in the case where coins of the denomination specified by the denomination specifying means include new issue coins and past issue circulating coins, since the detected stacked coin height data correcting means is constituted to correct the detected stacked coin height data stored in the detected stacked coin height data storing means in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, and output the thus corrected detected stacked coin height data to the comparing means, even when the height of a predetermined number of stacked new issue coins is different from the height of the same number of stacked past issue circulating coins, it is possible to reliably wrap the new issue coins and the past issue circulated old coins so as to include the predetermined number of coins.
In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the detected stacked coin height data correcting means is constituted to classify the coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins and stacked by the coin stacking means into a plurality of groups of a number less than the number of coins to be wrapped in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, correct the detected stacked coin height data stored in the detected stacked coin height data storing means in accordance with a correction value assigned to each of the groups, and output the thus corrected reference stacked coin height data to the comparing means.
According to this preferred aspect of the present invention, since the detected stacked coin height data correcting means is constituted to classify the coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins and stacked by the coin stacking means into a plurality of groups of a number less than the number of coins to be wrapped in accordance with the number of the new issue coins and the number of the past issue circulating coins determined based on the count made by the discriminating and counting means, correct the detected stacked coin height data stored in the detected stacked coin height data storing means in accordance with a correction value assigned to each of the groups, and output the thus corrected reference stacked coin height data to the comparing means, even when the height of a predetermined number of stacked new issue coins is different from the height of the same number of stacked past issue circulating coins, it is possible to reliably wrap the new issue coins and the past issue circulated old coins so as to include the predetermined number of coins without need for great memory capacity and in a short calculating time.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the detected stacked coin height data correcting means is constituted to store stacked coin height data produced by stacking the wrapped number of the past issue circulating coins as reference stacked coin height data of coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the detected stacked coin height data correcting means is constituted to store stacked coin height data produced by stacking the wrapped number of the new issue coins as reference stacked coin height data of coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the detected stacked coin height data correcting means is constituted to store an average value of stacked coin height data produced by stacking the wrapped number of the new issue coins and stacked coin height data produced by stacking the wrapped number of the past issue circulating coins as reference stacked coin height data of coins of a denomination including the new issue coins and the past issue circulating coins.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings.